I am a wanderer. I would say that I am a seeker, but sometimes I have no idea what I might be seeking, so I will stick with wanderer. This blog is more a public journal than anything. I don't claim to have life figured out. I simply stumble from mystery to mystery, and share my reflections along the way. Sometimes I feel burdened, and trudge. Sometimes? Well sometimes grace breaks through, and its time to dance.

Welcome

Primitive religion is not believed, it is danced!

Arthur Darby Nock

Earth's crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God;And only he who sees takes off his shoes;The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

Elizabeth Browning

Thursday, June 29, 2017

“It is an absolute human certainty that no one can know his
own beauty or perceive a sense of his own worth until it has been reflected
back to him in the mirror of another loving, caring human being.”

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

“When you fly across the country in an airplane the country
seems vast; but it isn't vast. It's all connected by roads one can ride a bike
down. If you watch the news and there's a tragedy at a house in Kansas, that
guy's driveway connects with yours, and you'd be surprised by how few roads it
takes to get there.”

“I once listened to an Indian on television say that God was
in the wind and the water, and I wondered at how beautiful that was because it
meant you could swim in Him or have Him brush your face in a breeze.”

Monday, June 19, 2017

You may have seen the bumper sticker that says, "If you
lived in your heart, you'd be home now." Now normally, little bumper stick
thoughts, especially spoken to me as wise spiritual advice, enrage me. I listen
nicely, while fantasizing about poking a fork into the person's head, like a
baked potato. But whenever I see this bumper sticker, it spritzes me into hope.
It reminds me that there is a place in me that is warm and safe and gentle,
unlike my usual pinball mind explosion of fear, judgment, doom, blame, and
corrective thoughts on how other people should behave better, and a structured
plan for how they can begin to do that.

After that day I saw him often. He explained to me with
great insistence that every question possessed a power that did not lie in the
answer. "Man raises himself toward God by the questions he asks Him,"
he was fond of repeating. "That is the true dialogue. Man questions God
and God answers. But we don't understand His answers. We can't understand them.
Because they come from the depths of the soul, and they stay there until death.
You will find the true answers, Eliezer, only within yourself!"

"And why do you pray, Moshe?" I asked him. "I
pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the
right questions.”

Thursday, June 15, 2017

“Just as in earthly life lovers long for the moment when
they are able to breath forth their love for each other, to let their souls
blend in a soft whisper, so the mystic longs for the moment when in prayer he
can, as it were, creep into God”

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have
chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a
mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your
neutrality.”

Desmond Tutu

__________________________

It is an unassailable fact

The vulnerable in our nation are being bullied

They are being shamed

Guilted

And abandoned

They are being told they are worthless

They are being guilted

Shamed

Their souls are being sold

For pieces of silver

For tax cuts for those

Already obscenely wealthy

They are seeing safety and possibility

Legislated away by people who, for whatever reason, fear or
hate them

Even the earth is under attack

By those who value money over life

Those that see it cannot remain neutral

We cannot stand by and say “let us see how it works out”

We must respond

We must act

It is not an option

When Jesus was asked to say what living a sacred / spiritual
life looks like he said,

According to Richard Rohr, via St. Francis, the way of Jesus
“asks us to let go, to recognize that there is enough to go around and meet
everyone’s need but not everyone’s greed. A worldview of enoughness will
predictably emerge in an individual as they move toward naked being instead of
thinking that more of anything or more frenetic doing can fill up our longing
and restlessness… This is hard for most
of us to even comprehend… Francis knew
that climbing ladders to nowhere would never make us happy nor create peace and
justice on this earth. Too many have to stay at the bottom of the ladder so we
can be at the top.

__________________________________________

we have it so very wrong

we who make it all about “me” as the individual

my wealth

my power

my safety

we have it so very wrong

we who that that it is all about the individual

and that life is a contest

in which some win and some lose

the winners are worthy

and the losers?

well they are a waste of space

we have it so very wrong, thinking that

gathering to ourselves as much power, as much wealth as
possible

is an appropriate goal

and that it matters very little how you get there

as long as you do

we have it wrong, thinking that it is OK to leave others
behind

that we might get ahead

that it is OK to climb to success over the bodies of others

that it is acceptable and to use and abuse others if I gets
us what we want

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

“How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it
and why was I not informed of the rules and regulations but just thrust into
the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling shanghaier of human beings? How
did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why should I be
involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved,
where is the manager—I have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To
whom shall I make my complaint?”

Further Reading

Creative Use of Diversity by Stephen Kliewer. A look at diversity in the church. Thoughts about the kinds of diversity in local congregations and its impact. Also thoughts about how to deal with diversity to maximize the positives and minimize the negatives . Published by the Alban Institute 1985

Healthcare and Spirituality by Stephen Kliewer and John Saultz. A look at spirituality and its place in the healing process. Originally designed as a primer for healthcare providers, it has also proved useful to pastors and laypeople. Published by Radcliffe Medical Press 2006.

Both can be found on Amazon.com

Another version of this blog, with photography from the author can be found on FaceBook

Look for "Dancing Faith"

Another great blog can be found at http://thefunstons.com/I encourage you to check it out!